What can be said about Frank Mir that hasn’t been said time and time again? With 14 victories inside the Octagon, he is the winningest heavyweight in the history of the UFC.In addition, the Vegas-born fighter has incredible submission skills as well as…
What can be said about Frank Mir that hasn’t been said time and time again? With 14 victories inside the Octagon, he is the winningest heavyweight in the history of the UFC.
In addition, the Vegas-born fighter has incredible submission skills as well as a black belt in kenpo karate. These skills led Mir to a pair of world titles, as well as wins against some of the biggest names that the sport has ever seen, including Brock Lesnar, “Minotauro” Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop and more.
That being said, Mir’s biggest wins came against a rookie who was greener than the Garden of Eden and fading stars who had waved bye-bye to their competitive primes years earlier.
When facing the top stars of the modern era, Mir was on the receiving end of beatdowns from the likes of Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos and Lesnar, who avenged the prior loss in violent fashion.
On Saturday night, Mir was absolutely manhandled by Olympian Daniel Cormier en route to a unanimous-decision victory. It was the second consecutive loss for Mir, who had never previously suffered a losing streak.
Many question whether or not Frank has what it takes to be relevant in the title scene. After all, he has lost decisively to the guys at the top of the division and does not match up well stylistically with reigning champion Cain Velasquez.
Is this the end of the road for Mir? That depends on what you mean by the term.
There are no signs to indicate that Mir is ready to call it quits. He seems happy with his new relationship under coach Greg Jackson and will likely compete several more times before calling it a career.
Under no circumstances do I see a scenario where Mir becomes a world champion again. His current skid has him no less than three wins away from another shot at the belt. Considering that Mir tends to fight no more than twice in a calendar year, the jiu-jitsu wizard would be 36 years old by the time he would challenge for gold.
Then again, what do I know? Along with most of the MMA world, I’ve had doubts about Mir ever since his 2004 motorcycle accident, and since that time, the guy has found the most success of his life.
UFC on Fox 7 was a violent and almost uniformly fought at a furious pace over the course of twelve preliminary and main card bouts. Eight bouts finished inside of the distance, and the main event was five close-fought, damaging rounds long.
Welterweights Matt Brown and Jordan Mein each got extra $50,000 bonus checks for putting on the fight of the night and Josh Thomson and Yoel Romero each got knockout of the night awards and 50k bonuses.
Thomson returned to the UFC in style by handing Nate Diaz his first ever stoppage loss – a second round TKO stoppage. Romero caught Clifford Starks with a flying knee and won a quick via quick TKO.
Neither Daniel Cormier nor Frank Mir won extra bonuses for their three-round heavyweight bout. Cormier did continue to show that he is a legitimate contender in the division, on the strength of his world-class wrestling skills and speed, despite being vastly undersized.
As they took the center of the Octagon, the smaller Cormier looked like he was facing his uncle in the large former two-time heavyweight champ Mir. Once Cormier got a hold of Mir, over and over again throughout the fight, it was the two-time Olympic wrestler that looked like a man fighting a child.
Cormier clinched with Mir, pressed him against the cage, let go and, on separation, unloaded nasty hooks and uppercuts to the head and body of Mir, along with elbows and knees before clinching back up and rinsing and repeating. As the fight wore on and Mir proved helpless against Cormier’s strategy, referee Herb Dean didn’t like Cormier’s dominance so he tried, as all refs disturbingly seem to be instructed to do, to give Mir more of a chance by breaking up the clinch work quickly but that couldn’t stop the wrestler from continuing to close the distance.
Mir would not be mentally broken despite eating big shots and being ground down, and he fought hard in the third round – throwing hard punches and knees. The ones that did connect, however, were absorbed by Cormier, and he just went back to pressing Mir against the cage and doing short striking work at will.
Cormier fought the smartest fight he could against a much larger, more experienced opponent. The cerebral fighter knew that the middle was his friend. Had he stayed out on the outside, Mir might have used his far superior reach to land big shots.
Had Cormier taken Mir down (he did so once, with a single leg, but did not follow Mir to the ground. Choosing instead, to let the Jiu Jitsu master stand up and eat an over hand right), he would have let the black belt do work where he was most comfortable and dangerous. So, Cormier did what he should have – control the clinch and then use his superior speed to land at will on separation.
I don’t know how long this lightweight/welterweight-heighted phenom will continue to be successful at heavyweight, but so far he can count two former UFC heavyweight champs as wins, as well as the #1 contender to the belt right now, Antonio Silva. It has been fun to watch Cormier figure out how to win fights at heavyweight.
UFC on Fox 7 was a violent and almost uniformly fought at a furious pace over the course of twelve preliminary and main card bouts. Eight bouts finished inside of the distance, and the main event was five close-fought, damaging rounds long.
Welterweights Matt Brown and Jordan Mein each got extra $50,000 bonus checks for putting on the fight of the night and Josh Thomson and Yoel Romero each got knockout of the night awards and 50k bonuses.
Thomson returned to the UFC in style by handing Nate Diaz his first ever stoppage loss – a second round TKO stoppage. Romero caught Clifford Starks with a flying knee and won a quick via quick TKO.
Neither Daniel Cormier nor Frank Mir won extra bonuses for their three-round heavyweight bout. Cormier did continue to show that he is a legitimate contender in the division, on the strength of his world-class wrestling skills and speed, despite being vastly undersized.
As they took the center of the Octagon, the smaller Cormier looked like he was facing his uncle in the large former two-time heavyweight champ Mir. Once Cormier got a hold of Mir, over and over again throughout the fight, it was the two-time Olympic wrestler that looked like a man fighting a child.
Cormier clinched with Mir, pressed him against the cage, let go and, on separation, unloaded nasty hooks and uppercuts to the head and body of Mir, along with elbows and knees before clinching back up and rinsing and repeating. As the fight wore on and Mir proved helpless against Cormier’s strategy, referee Herb Dean didn’t like Cormier’s dominance so he tried, as all refs disturbingly seem to be instructed to do, to give Mir more of a chance by breaking up the clinch work quickly but that couldn’t stop the wrestler from continuing to close the distance.
Mir would not be mentally broken despite eating big shots and being ground down, and he fought hard in the third round – throwing hard punches and knees. The ones that did connect, however, were absorbed by Cormier, and he just went back to pressing Mir against the cage and doing short striking work at will.
Cormier fought the smartest fight he could against a much larger, more experienced opponent. The cerebral fighter knew that the middle was his friend. Had he stayed out on the outside, Mir might have used his far superior reach to land big shots.
Had Cormier taken Mir down (he did so once, with a single leg, but did not follow Mir to the ground. Choosing instead, to let the Jiu Jitsu master stand up and eat an over hand right), he would have let the black belt do work where he was most comfortable and dangerous. So, Cormier did what he should have – control the clinch and then use his superior speed to land at will on separation.
I don’t know how long this lightweight/welterweight-heighted phenom will continue to be successful at heavyweight, but so far he can count two former UFC heavyweight champs as wins, as well as the #1 contender to the belt right now, Antonio Silva. It has been fun to watch Cormier figure out how to win fights at heavyweight.
But if his teammate Cain Velasquez stays champion of the division, maybe we’ll see him drop down at least one weight class and challenge there. He’ll either look even stronger there or will see his speed advantage over most opponents slip away.
Benson Wins Another Close Decision
At this point, UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson probably feels confident that he appeals to a wide cross-section of judges. He’s won seven consecutive decision in the UFC, his biggest bouts being the most closely-contested.
His number one contender’s fight with Clay Guida in 2011 was close but his two title wins over Frankie Edgar were even closer. Henderson pretty much controlled his late 2012 title defense against Diaz so there was no controversy in his winning that decision.
“Smooth” Henderson’s split decision Saturday night over Gilbert Melendez is probably the closest and most controversial win of the champ’s career, however. I scored both his fights with Edgar for Henderson, as well as his win over Guida. But Saturday’s main event looked like Melendez’ fight.
This writer can see the fantastic, competitive fight conceivably and reasonably being judged in either man’s favor, but the way I saw it was Gilbert clearly winning rounds one and two, and making a good case for himself in rounds three and, especially, five.
Melendez said after the fight that he was, understandably, heart-broken by the decision loss. It is probably little consolation but at least he showed that what he and his teammates have been saying for years as he labored outside of the UFC – that Melendez is at the very top of the sport’s best division – is true.
I didn’t imagine that Melendez would be able to match Henderson’s strength or deal with his speed or kicks, but he did just that – countering sharply, catching most of the champ’s knees and kicks, taking him down and landing his own inside leg kick time and time again. Melendez fought the fight of his life but came away empty-handed.
He finally made it to the UFC and showed that if he’s not the best lightweight in the world, it is, in political election terms, at least a statistical tie between he and one or two other guys. Melendez may not have a strap to show for his winning effort Saturday night, but at least more than a handful of fans got to watch him do what he does this time.
MMA trainer Greg Jackson may want to mull over the possibility of sending Frank Mir to wrestling camp for the summer.Despite his much-improved striking and world-class submission skills, Mir was once again beat up and bullied by the stronger wrestler i…
MMA trainer Greg Jackson may want to mull over the possibility of sending Frank Mir to wrestling camp for the summer.
Despite his much-improved striking and world-class submission skills, Mir was once again beat up and bullied by the stronger wrestler in his UFC on Fox 7 co-main event bout against Daniel Cormier.
The majority of the bout was spent in the clinch against the cage with Cormier controlling and landing a few short strikes every now and then. Despite being the significantly larger man, Mir was completely outmatched in the wrestling department by the former U.S. Olympian.
All three judges scored every round for Cormier and handed him a lopsided unanimous decision.
Mir has always been a talented heavyweight, but he has never showcased the wrestling abilities to thwart the gargantuan grapplers emerging in today’s division. An inability to maintain leverage in the grappling department also cost him bouts against Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.
Under the tutelage of Jackson, Mir will continue to improve as a fighter overall. It was nice to see him mix things up with more diverse kicks. Still, a Mir with strong wrestling coupled with his endless knowledge of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a scary man.
Daniel Cormier got into this whole MMA thing a little late in life, making his professional debut at the pretty advanced age, at least for a professional fighter, of 30. That debut took place in 2009 in the Strikeforce Challengers series. After 11 stra…
Daniel Cormier got into this whole MMA thing a little late in life, making his professional debut at the pretty advanced age, at least for a professional fighter, of 30. That debut took place in 2009 in the Strikeforce Challengers series. After 11 straight victories and earning the title of Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix champion, Cormier made his UFC debut on Saturday night at UFC on Fox 7.
The talk has been that Cormier, the team captain of the 2008 US Olympic wrestling squad, is a champion in the making, at whatever weight division he wants to fight in. The UFC, perhaps looking to test the mettle of Cormier, gave him the same opponent they gave Brock Lesnar when he made his UFC debut—former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.
When the Octagon door locked behind the two fighters in San Jose, Cormier showed that he was more than capable of handling himself against the former champion, using his strength and clinch work to get the best of the submission artist.
Cormier held Mir against the fence at will and landed heavy body shots to score points en route to a unanimous decision victory. It may not have been the prettiest win, and it may have caused some grumbling considering eight of the fights before it ended in knockouts, but it was a win against a former champ, which should count for something, no?
Now that Cormier has gotten his first test in the UFC out of the way it will be interesting to see what his next step will be, as he has options at either heavyweight or light heavyweight.
Benson Henderson is going to slip out of San Jose with his hardware intact—but just barely.The UFC lightweight champion made his third successful title defense when he edged out the last man to hold the Strikeforce 155-pound strap—Gilbert M…
Benson Henderson is going to slip out of San Jose with his hardware intact—but just barely.
The UFC lightweight champion made his third successful title defense when he edged out the last man to hold the Strikeforce 155-pound strap—Gilbert Melendez in a split decision in the main event of UFC on Fox 7.
It was a back-and-forth affair over the course of the five-round scrap as both men had their share of high points. Throughout the fight, neither man was able to gain a definitive advantage over the other, but when it came to the judge’s score cards, “Bendo” earned the the razor-thin nod.
The headlining bout was the icing on the cake to what ended up being a dynamite card from top to bottom. From the first fight to the last, the event delivered action-packed dust-ups and brutal knockouts at every turn.
Here’s a look at the highs, lows and general awesomeness that went down in San Jose.
The Good
In a night filled with positive turns, Team Alpha Male can lay claim to several of them. The Sacramento-based camp walked out of the HP Pavilion going a perfect 3-0, with each victory coming by way of an impressive finish.
The Ultimate Fighter alum and bantamweight prospect T.J. Dillashaw set the tone for his teammates when he scored a first-round TKO over Hugo Viana. The 27-year-old stepped up to face the TUF Brazil alum on short notice when Francisco Rivera dropped out due to injury, and in the process, picked up his second victory in five weeks.
Dillashaw’s win at UFC on Fox 7 makes it three straight for the former Season 14 TUF finalist and will put him in an interesting position in the bantamweight division.
With the 135-pound weight class being relatively thin, it seems possible the UFC could fast track Dillashaw and putting him in with a top 10-ranked opponent in his next outing. At the same time, it would also be well within the realm of understanding if the promotion chose to give Dillashaw at least one more mid-range fight before pushing him into deeper waters.
Joseph Benavidez notched the next victory on the night for the squad as he dominated Darren Uyenoyama from pillar to post in their bout on the FX portion of the card.
The former No. 1 flyweight contender clearly proved he’s regained the position as Benavidez made Uyenoyama look as if he had no business sharing a cage in San Jose. The 28-year-old flexed his constantly improving striking skills as he battered the veteran at will, finally finishing him off with a devastating liver shot in the second round.
Benavidez will leave San Jose with back-to-back victories, and it will most likely earn “Jobe” another shot at Demetrius Johnson’s flyweight title.
Running anchor for Team Alpha Male at UFC on Fox 7 was former No. 1 contender to the featherweight crown Chad Mendes. “Money” had added pressure riding on his bout with Darren Elkins as the race for the top of the 145-pound weight class has heated up over the past year. This created a position where Mendes could ill-afford a step back, and the 27-year-old answered the challenge with vigor.
Despite being originally slated to face Clay Guida, the former All-American wrestler handled the change of opponent with ease. Elkins came into the bout on a five-fight win streak, but Mendes salted the Indiana-native in 68 seconds to keep his title hopes alive.
The victory makes it three in a row for Mendes—all first-round finishes—and makes a solid case for him to face the winner of Jose Aldo versus Anthony Pettis at the end of the year.
It would be difficult to discuss Team Alpha Male’s recent success without mentioning newly added striking coach Duane Ludwig. “Bang’s” presence in Sacramento is showing through in a major way as the notoriously wrestle-heavy camp has been on a solid run as of late. Prior to the trifecta in San Jose, both Danny Castillo and Urijah Faber looked excellent in their most recent showings as well.
If this camp evolves to become monsters in the striking department, it could be hard times for the rest of the fighters in the lighter weight classes.
The welterweight division added a new member to their upper-tier when Matt Brown defeated Jordan Mein to kick off the action on the Fox portion of the card. “The Immortal” and the talented young Canadian put on one of the night’s most exciting fights as they traded punches, knees and kicks at a hectic pace.
A frenzied first round saw both fighters buckle, but Brown ultimately proved to be the most durable as he scored the second-round stoppage victory. The win makes it five straight for the Ohio-based fighter and will certainly warrant his next opponent being one of the elite fighters in the weight class.
Another highlight on a night filled with impressive moments came from veteran Josh Thomson.
The former Strikeforce lightweight champion made his long-awaited return to the Octagon in brilliant fashion as he scored a TKO victory over former No. 1 contender Nate Diaz. “The Punk” launched himself into the 155-pound title picture by defeating the younger Diaz, and it will be interesting to see who the UFC will give him next.
The winner of Donald Cerrone vs. K.J. Noons or Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy both make sense, but with Thomson besting the fourth-ranked Diaz, those moves could be considered taking a step backward.
The Bad
On a card with so many good moments, there were very few entries into this category. The most prominent situation which comes to mind is where Nate Diaz stands in his career.
Four months back, the Stocktonian was stepping in to fight Benson Henderson for the lightweight title, but after the loss to Thomson at UFC on Fox 7, the former TUF winner is floating in limbo.
The 28-year-old, this week, according to Dann Stupp and John Morgan of MMA Junkie.com, said that he was pondering a return to the welterweight division following his bout with Thomson. Considering how Diaz left the division after being rag dolled by a much stronger Rory MacDonald, returning to the weight class doesn’t seem to make much sense.
Diaz has experienced much more success competing in the lightweight division. That being said, after losing to the AKA staple in San Jose, Diaz’s position in the 155-weight class is a bit difficult to pinpoint.
Suffering back-to-back losses against the top fighters in the world is nothing to shake a stick at, but in the ultra-competitive realms of the welterweight and lightweight divisions, Diaz’s backslide puts him in a difficult situation.
Should Diaz decide to stay at 155 pounds, he is more than capable of battling his way back up the ladder toward another title shot. On the other hand, if he does make the jump back to the wrestler-infested waters of the welterweight division, that journey would become all the more difficult.
The only other entry into this category that comes to mind is Frank Mir.
Despite coming into his fight with Daniel Cormier in peak physical shape, the former two-time champion simply didn’t have an answer for anything the AKA-trained fighter brought to the table. The Las Vegas native was bullied around the cage for the entire fight, as the former Olympian swept the judge’s scorecards for a unanimous decision victory.
While Mir looked solid at moments during the fight, the bigger question is how he responds to being pushed out of the divisional upper tier.
For the first time in his career, Mir has dropped back-to-back outings, and the loss to Cormier comes at a time when the heavyweight division is getting deeper. Since 2007, Mir has never been more than one or two wins away from earning another title opportunity, and those conditions change with his loss in San Jose.
At 33 years old, Mir still has time to make another run to the top of the weight class. But after suffering a loss where so much emphasis was put on his reinvigoration and career-altering adjustments, the question of how much he has left will certainly hover.
The Awesome
In recent weeks, this category has been dedicated to the strange happenings which occur at mixed martial arts events, due to the amount of knockouts and brutal dustings at UFC on Fox 7. I am dedicating this space to the awesomeness in San Jose. Out of the 12 fights on the card, eight came via referee stoppage—with the majority of said stoppages coming in stunning fashion.
The card fired off the launch pad as Yoel Romero starched Clifford Starks with a flying-knee KO in the first fight of the evening.
In the next tilt, Anthony Njokuani raised the bar a bit higher when he cut Roger Bowling’s lights out with a sharp counter-left that put the Ohio-based fighter face down on the canvas.
The rest of the card featured fantastic displays of violence from Dillashaw, Benavidez, Mendes, Brown and Thomson, but perhaps the best of the night came from Myles Jury.
After a tactical first round that saw the lightweight prospect locked in a tactical grappling battle with opponent Ramsey Nijem, “The Fury” connected with a devastating right hand just as Nijem was charging that left the John Hackelman-trained fighter with blank eyes staring up at the arena lights.
The shot connected, and Nijem crumbled to the canvas with knockout auto-response “robot arms” rising into the air.
The bodies were dropping left and right at UFC on Fox 7, but the knockout chaos made it one of the most memorable cards in recent years.
Taking you through the action tonight is our good friend Elias Cepeda, who’s giving us round-by-round results from the UFC on FOX 7 main card broadcast after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and share your own thoughts in the comments section.
Taking you through the action tonight is our good friend Elias Cepeda, who’s giving us round-by-round results from the UFC on FOX 7 main card broadcast after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and share your own thoughts in the comments section.
Matt Brown vs. Jordan Mein
Rd 1
Matt Brown starts out feinting with the jab. Both men keep a respectful distance with one another. Jordan lands a standing elbow, Brown lands with two glancing punches, backing up Mein.
Brown pressing forward on Mein, hurting the kid. Mein shows good composure, slipping, ducking and circling away. Brown still follows, swinging wildly. Mein lands back with a right, then a left. Mein getes tagged, loses his balance and mouthpiece and falls. He is back up quickly.
Mein gets his mouth guard back in his mouth after referee John McCarthy stops the action. Brown gets back in Mein’s face with punches and a head kick. Most are dodged or blocked. Brown bleeding over his right eye. Brown with a right hand that hurts Mein. Mein waiting and swinging back once for every ten punches from Brown. Mein lands a big right hand!
Brown clinches up and lands several big knees to the body of Mein. Two minutes left in this wild fight. Mein lands a two punch combo. Mein lands a left to the liver of Brown and drops him!
Matt his face first on the floor in pain. Mein follows up with a choke attempt, then strikes on the ground. Brown is visibly pained and hurt from the body shot. He survives Mein’s onslaught of punches and elbows to the body and face on the ground. Brown slaps on a triangle choke!
Mein escapes! Brown with a knee to what looks to be Mein’s throat. He follows up with punches. Mein is hurt badly. Brown lands a nasty elbow to Mein’s head as the horn sounds.
Rd 2
Brown pushes forward again, lands a huge right hand, then a knee, then a right elbow. Mein falls to the ground. Brown looks for a front choke, lets it go. Mein is on his back, rolls up to all fours. Brown posts on Mein’s head and lands another pointed elbow to the kid’s head. He continues with elbows to the body. His onslaught continues until the referee calls it off.
Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson
Nate is the heavy crowd favorite here in this Bay area match up. Let’s get it on.
Rd 1
Nate trying to keep his distance with punches as Thomson gets to work with a lead roundhouse leg kick to compensate for his reach disadvantage. Josh switching his stances and keeping his head movement. Thomson punches Nate’s lead leg then goes high with a rear right head kick that lands flush on the side of Diaz’ dome!
Two minutes in, Nate begins the taunting and lands a long,lead left punch. Thomson fakes another leg punch and again goes high with a right head kick that lands flush again!
Thomson almost exclusively kicking. Thomson gets a clinch, Diaz forces Thomson against the cage. Diaz using his head until Thomson reverses positions and then separates. Thomson gets behind Diaz and unloads with punches to the back of Diaz’ head.
The two exchange punch flurries on the inside. Thomson moving calmly and looking to explode with his superior speed ont he ground. Diaz stalking. Thomson lands a big left and right punch, Diaz clinches up. With just over thirty seconds left, Thomson gets a take down and falls into Diaz’ full guard. Thomson gets busy right away, opening up the guard and landing elbows. Diaz turtles up and gets to his feet.
Rd 2
Diaz swarms with hooks and they clinch up. Diaz apparently lands a low knee to Thomson’s sack. He gets time to recover, doesn’t take much of it.
Diaz takes the center of the cage, taunting, while Thomson switches up his stance and initiates another clinch. Thomson works to the side of Diaz, pushing him against the cage, landing an elbow and knee. Diaz briefly reverses positions but Thomson takes control back and backs Diaz against the cage again.
Diaz separates. He is bleeding above his right eye. Nate lands a take down! Thomson sits up and cage walks back to his feet immediately. Diaz looks for a standing guillotine but Thomson gets out.
Diaz stalking in the center of the ring again, Thomson circling away from Diaz’ power. Thomson lands another right head kick! This one is full shin on head, as opposed to the first one which was all foot. This one hurt Diaz badly. He stumbles backwards, wobbly. Thomson lands a straight punch, then another that drops Nate.
Thomson jumps all over Diaz with punches and finishes the fight. Wow.
Going low and then finishing high really paid off for Thomson this fight. What a return to the UFC for ‘The Punk.’
Frank Mir. Vs. Daniel Cormier
Rd 1
Mir with an old school Jiu Jitsu push kick. Cormier staying on the outside. Mir kicking a lot, all air, fora guy facing an elite wrestler. Mir with a left knee to the body of Cormier. Cormier eats it and presses Mir against the clinch, using head position to control the much larger opponent.
Cormier with a front head lock into a knee. Cormier unloads with hooks that back up and hurt Mir. Cormier’s speed advantage is as evident as Mir’s size at this point. Cormier pressing Mir up against the cage, throwing in body shorts on separation, then clinching back up with a head and arm Thai plum type of control.
Cormier letting go of the clinch and lands more punches – upper cuts to the body and head. Cormier lands an elbow on separation and gets kneed accidentally in the groin. Referee Herb Dean doesn’t see it and they continue. Cormier gets the clinch again and presses Mir back up against the cage, unleashes another flurry.
Cormier swings and whiffs with a head kick and falls on his back. Mir pounces and goes for a front choke but Cormier stands and escapes. Mir says something to Cormier and smiles.
The horn sounds and Cormier touches gloves with Mir.
Rd 2
Mir lands a tepid read round house leg kick. Cormier does a standing, jumping kick thing that misses Mir completely. Cormier clinches up with Mir again and presses him against the cage. He works some dirty close shots and uses up more of the clock without Mir being able to mount any offense. Smart game plan.
Cormier separates and then quickly clinches up again. Cormier presses Mir against the cage, mixing in a left elbow and a right upper cut to the gut. Cormier separates. Mir thinks to pull guard and a guillotine choke but Cormier gets away.
Cormier clinches up and pushes Mir against the cage again. He separates and lands a big right uppercut to the jaw of Mir. Mir wades in with punches that miss. Cormier counters with one-two that hurts Mir. Cormier follows up with a right body shot.
Herb Dean breaks up Cormier’s next clinch up just two seconds into it; allowing either the crowd or misguided Athletic Commission mandates from above.
Rd 3
Mir comes out aggressive, gets Cormier against the cage but Cormier regains control and presses him against the cage. Mir gets free and comes back aggressively with kicks and knees, giving Cormier pause. Cormier looks stunned from the body shots but still gets control back and presses against the fence.
Mir gets free but Cormier slips under and behind and unloads with hooks. Cormier gets the clinch back and presses Mir against the cage again. Dean breaks them up.
Both men are justifiably fatigued and circle each other for a while. Cormier gets the clinch and gets a single leg take down. He does not follow the dangerous submission artist to the floor, choosing instead to stand up and let Mir back to his feet. Once Mir is back on his feet, Cormier throws a big over hand right.
Cormier gets the clinch again, working short shots. He slips under Frank’s left arm and gets to the back but Dean breaks them up again.
The two clinch up again and the fight ends there.
Decision time up next. Cormier wins a unanimous decision.
Cormier adds another former UFC heavyweight champion to his list of victories. Will he continue to campaign at heavyweight, where his friend and training partner Cain Velasquez is champion? Or will the guy with the welterweight height decide to drop down and dethrone Chael Sonnen as light heavyweight champion?
The main event up next, taters!
Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez
Rd 1
Henderson begins the fight bouncing around, moving his head in his south paw stance. Gilbert lands a leg kick to Henderson’s lead leg. Melendez with a left hook, leg kick combo. The kick landed. Henderson lands a straight left.
Gilbert catches a kick from Benson and takes him down. Gilbert presses down, goes into Henderson’s guard. Bendo backs up on his but towards the cage and ultimately cage walks back up to his feet. As soon as he does, Melendez lands a knee to the head.
Henderson swings and misses with a jab-hook combo. Henderson throws another leg kick that Gilbert catches. He tries to take Henderson down again but Benson hops backwards and defends. As his back touches the cage, Gilbert lets loose a fling knee to the body.
Both are back in the center of the ring, shortly. Gilbert with another, missed-hook-leg kick landing combo. Henderson lands a knee to the body of Gilbert, Gilbert catches it and takes Henderson down. He follows up with a flying knee to the body of the downed Henderson! Henderson gets back to his feet.
Gilbert catches another leg kick from Henderson, fires a straight right down the pipe while holding the right leg and takes Henderson down again at the horn.
Rd 2
Benson comes out feinting a lot with his jab and hook. Gilbert lands with another leg kick after a left hook feint and follows with an over hand right that also lands. Gilbert catches another kick from Henderson but can’t take him down. Melendez follows up with more punches that back up and glance Henderson.
Another left hook feint into leg kick landed for Gilbert. Benson with a knee to the body landed. Benson initiates a clinch but Gilbert pushes away. Benson lands another knee to the body but Gilbert catches it afterwards. Henderson defends the ensuing take down attempt, however.
Henderson with a lead jab to the leg of Melendez. Nice straight two-one from Henderson that glances Melendez. Henderson with a head kick that glances on Melendez.
Henderson shoots for a double on Gilbert, who defends. Gilbert with another leg kick landed.
The two bounce around and measure one another until the horn. Gilbert may have stolen another round from the champion.
Rd 3
Night two-one punch combo from Henderson off the bat! Melendez fires right back and lands with a cross! Melendez with another landed inside leg kick off of the hook feint.
Henderson lowers his rear round house leg kick and knocks Gilbert down with it! Gilbert right back on his feet. Melendez connects with a right hand and stuns Henderson. Another right hand from Melendez!
Henderson gets off of the fence, fires a two-punch combo and then shoots for a double. He presses Gilbert against the cage, working for the double. Gilbert gets down to one knee but stands back up. They are standing and clinching, the champ with knees, Melendez with punches on separation.
Henderson comes up short on a front face kick. Henderson fires a straight, Melendez hooks and misses, Henderson ducks under and shoots for a double but is completely stuffed by Melendez! Henderson is on his ass but gets right back.
The two fire away at each other up along the fence after separating from a nasty clinch with Henderson working under hooks and Melendez pressing down on the champ’s face. Melendez lands a punch to the body.
With a few seconds left in the round, Henderson throws a leg kick that knocks both he and Melendez down. Henderson is quicker to his feet and cross-sides Melendez. The champ senses time running out and unloads with strikes on Melendez.
Time runs out and the champion is still punching! The ref lifts Henderson up and away from Melendez!
Rd 4
Both men get a warning for head butts. Melendez fires a straight, Henderson ducks under and shoots. Gilbert stuffs it.
Henderson lands a body kick, Gilbert catches it. The champ gets free. He throws a knee to the body, Gilbert catches it but again the champ gets free. Henderson with a slapping leg kick.
Another kick from Henderson, a body knee from the challenger. Gilbert sprawls out on a take down attempt and Henderson hustles up to his feet and swarms Gilbert with punches, none landing big.
Lead side kick to Gilbert’s leg from the champ. Another. Both men go for a leg kick, Henderson’s lands flusher and knocks Melendez down. Henderson jumps on him in a flash and takes his back with no hooks in!
Melendez defends the choke, stands and gets free. Gilbert stalks the champ and feints with jabs. Gilbert lands a hook to the body, then an upper cut to the body. He catches a kick from Henderson but the champ gets free. On separation, the champ lands a right hand.
Rd 5
Henderson takes the center of the cage and throws a body kick that Gilbert catches and releases. Rogan points out that Gilbert’s right shoulder looks jacked…is it the shoulder he was out injured with? I can’t remember. Regardless, he fights on.
Big over hand right lands for Gilbert. Benson circles away. Both men feinting, waiting to explode. Three minutes left.
Inside leg kick from the champ, then another after a short left elbow lands. Gilbert stalking Henderson but not able to land anything. Another short elbow from Henderson.
Henderson not landing much, but landing more in this round. Countering with speed and precision on occasion on his stalking challenger. Gilbert catches another knee from Henderson and follows up with a punch.
He stalks Henderson after the champ gets away and lands a flying knee to the body of the champ as he’s pressed against the cage. Henderson circling away, ducking under as Gilbert continues to stalk him. The crowd roars with under a minute left. Gilbert lands a left hook to the head of Henderson. Henderson with another elbow. Melendez with a body shot.
Melendez ends the final round appearing to have evened up the strike score in the stanza and as the man that pushed the action most of the period and fight. Horn sounds. Decision coming up next.
48-47 Melendez. 48-47 Henderson. The tie-breaking judge scores it 48-47 for Benson Henderson.
The defending champion stays undefeated and immediately deflects attention from any possible controversy by proposing to his girl friend. Who, despite thousands of booing fans surrounding them, says yes.
“It was a tough fight…I know how tough Gilbert Melendez is…I love those guys, the Skrap Pack. They bring it every single time,” the champion tells Rogan.
Thanks for partying with us, nation. What do you think of the decision? I think Gilbert clearly won the first two rounds and probably closed rounds three and/or five strong enough to get one more round and earn the win.
Chael Sonnen says that he feels Gilbert won the first three rounds and so does Brian Stann. So, there’s that.
Benson Henderson is going to slip out of San Jose with his hardware intact—but just barely.
